Fishing Industry Applauds Council

June 23, 2001|By David Fleshler Staff Writer

St. Augustine — Under pressure from fishing interests, the South Atlantic Fishery Management Council agreed Friday to withdraw several controversial proposals for protecting environmentally sensitive sites off the southeastern United States.

But the council did approve plans to move forward on protecting certain deep-water habitats, home to overfished species of snapper and grouper. These regions attract fewer fishermen, so restricting them is unlikely to generate the storm of criticism that greeted proposals to close shallow reef areas.

"The popular reefs, the popular fishing spots, the council has no intention of shutting them down," said Fulton Love, chairman of the council, which sets fishing rules in federal waters from the Keys through North Carolina. "We're trying to generate the maximum amount of benefit with the least amount of heartburn."

The council's decisions pleased representatives from the fishing industry, such as charter-boat operators and sport and commercial fishermen. But environmentalists were unhappy to see the council restrict its efforts to deep-water species, when many shallow-reef fish are in trouble.

The council has been at work for months on proposals to create marine protected areas, zones in which fishing would be either banned or restricted. The proposals were intended to help snapper and grouper, vulnerable reef species that have suffered sharp declines as well-equipped fishing boats plied the waters. Marine protected areas have gained support in the past few years as a possible solution, particularly from environmental groups that want to see a string of designated wilderness zones off the coasts of the United States.

At its meeting in St. Augustine on Friday, the council voted to continue considering about two-dozen sites for designation as marine protected areas. But it voted to drop several sites from the list, including Carysfort Reef off Key Largo, the sailfish-rich region south of Fowey Rocks in Biscayne National Park, the Oculina coral habitat that runs north from Fort Pierce, and Blackmars and Tanzars reefs, both off Jacksonville. The council also agreed to drop a proposal to ask the state to designate marine protected areas around reefs off Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Several Florida sites remain on the list for possible restrictions, including areas off Sebastian, St. Augustine and Hobe Sound, as well as small portions of Oculina coral habitat. The Islamorada Hump will be considered for a spawning season closure only, with surface trawling still allowed. The council also recommended considering 17 sites in Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.

The council's vote followed the recommendation of its committee on marine protected areas, which met the previous day.

"We're listening to the people," said Tony Iarocci, chairman of the committee and a lobster fisherman in Grassy Key. "The deep-water snapper and grouper are the ones most in trouble, and they're the ones that need help. I think we're going to be able to move forward in a less confrontational way."

The focus on deep-water species will protect species such as speckled hind, snowy grouper, warsaw grouper and misty grouper, said Kerry O'Malley, the council's biologist.

But some council members were hostile to the very idea of setting aside portions of the ocean for special protection, rather than simply using such traditional methods of bag limits and spawning season closures.

"We've scared everybody to death with these MPAs," said Ebbie LeMaster, a council member and recreational fisherman from Ponte Vedra Beach, referring to marine protected areas. "People in the Keys are adamant about it. Recreational fishing in the state of Florida is an industry worth more than citrus. And I don't want vast areas in which people aren't able to fish."

Representatives of the sport and commercial fishing industries left the meeting happy that the council had scaled back the proposals.

"I'm satisfied with the sites they removed," said Greg DiDomenico, executive director of Monroe County Commercial Fishermen Inc. "They're moving ahead with using MPAs as a management tool and also considering the inputs of commercial and recreational fishermen and keeping in mind the need for traditional management practices."

Environmentalists were upset that so many sites were dropped from the list under pressure from fishing interests. They said shallow reef fish, such as yellowtail snapper, red grouper and Nassau grouper, have suffered severe overfishing and that the council shouldn't ignore that problem simply because it was politically difficult.

"If the council is going to restrict its focus to protecting sites for deep-water species, then that leaves open the question of what is going to be done for overfished shallow-water species if present measures to rebuild them falter," said Alexander Stone, executive director of ReefKeeper International.

Several committees will continue reviewing the plans over the next few months. The council plans to select certain sites for scientific and economic studies, then hold a series of public hearings before taking a final vote.

David Fleshler can be reached at dfleshler@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4535.